It's the little things that can drive a mother crazy

IT'S the little things kids do (or don't do) that can truly amuse a mother's mind.

Of course there are always life's big issues to worry about but sometimes you just have to forget about them and focus on the things that are happening right under your own roof.

Then again, it's those little things that can threaten to send you completely crazy.

Several weeks ago as I was moving from the bathroom to the laundry I dropped an old and ragged silver scrubbing pad in the hallway.

I didn't realise at the time but later in the day when I did see it, I idly wondered out loud about who would pick it up if I didn't. In that moment I decided to "test" the three people who live in this big old house with me.

So, I left it there… it was half-way down the hall where everyone would walk past it on their way to the bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and the lounge room. Every time I walked past it I was tempted to pick it up. But then I would remind myself of the "test" and force myself to walk right on by.

So how long do you think it stayed there on the edge of the hallway?

Each day it moved a little as someone's feet touched it, ending up at the end of the hallway at one point and then days later it was back up the other end. But day and night it was there on the floor - the remaining bits of silver sparkling in the sunlight and in full view of anyone walking down the hall.

So how long do you think it took before somebody picked it up?

Can you believe it was there for four whole weeks - that's right for 28 days that threadbare little scrubbing pad stayed on the floor.

In the end it was my husband who picked it up.

As I thanked him I told him in about my "test".

He couldn't believe it had been there that long, saying that he "picked it up because I thought I dropped it when I took the rubbish out this morning".

When I asked the teens why they hadn't picked it up neither of them had a clue what I was talking about.
"What are you talking about, I didn't see it," said one.